Parker, Linda Culture

My grandparents were Italian and back in the 1960’s when we were very young, my grandmother always did the traditional Italian Feast of The Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. Friends, family and sometimes strangers gathered at her house for an evening filled with food and love and lots of different kinds of fish. As kids, we didn’t appreciate the fish part of the meal. Sardines, octopus and eels are generally not appealing to a 5 year old! We did ask my Mom one year if we could have Kraft Macaroni and Cheese instead, which prompted that “mother look” and we knew never to ask again! Fortunately for us kids, the tradition of the “smelly fish” as my sister called it, dissipated, but the tradition of having family and friends for Christmas Eve dinner continues to this day. 

Grandma always felt the more the merrier and always cooked for an Army no matter how many people were coming. She was someone who talked to everyone, so she often invited strangers whom she met on the subway to Christmas Eve dinner if they had nowhere else to go. After she passed, my Mom took over the tradition and continued it for over 50 years at our home in Connecticut. She always said no one should be alone at the holidays so we never knew how many would be there. Often times my brother would call on his way over to dinner and say set 4 more places because he found people who were going to be alone. The more people at the table, the happier my Mom was because this was the true meaning of Christmas.